EATINGOUTWEST
Above: the famously comprehensive Fine Cheese Company; right: Bath Soft Cheese - as local as it gets; top right: Thatchers - a great local success story
includes the Gloucester Brewery’s real ale range, cheese and pickles from Somerset Ploughman and Bristol bartenders collective The Drinks Cabinet’s range of premium spirits and sherry.
BATH BLUE QUAILS DELI 7 Bridge St, BA1. Ffi: 01225 338885, www. bluequailsdeli.com Newly arrived in central Bath, this is already a popular lunch spot, with luxurious hot chocolate a big attraction. There’s a rich choice of frittatas, chutneys and mince pies, made on the premises by owner Peter Botes, but it’s the homemade cakes that you’ll want to take home, with Red Velvet chocolate and beetroot, triplelayer lemon and pumpkin cakes particularly yummy. Many of the cakes are gluten-free, and some dairy-free options are available, too. FINE CHEESE COMPANY 29 Walcot St, BA1. Ffi: 01225 448748, www. finecheese.co.uk They pride themselves on their comprehensiveness so there’s stuff from far and wide on their shelves, but check out their own West Country Farmhouse Cheddar Truckle, cave-aged in Dorset, and their Enid Blyton-themed English
Farmhouse Feast gift box with pickles, oatcakes and even (lashings of) organic ginger beer, as well as proper waxed cheddar and cloth-bound wensleydale. BATH SOFT CHEESE Park Farm, Kelston, BA1. Ffi: 01225 331601, www.parkfarm.co.uk With a herd of cows grazing in a BA1 postcode, Bathonians couldn’t get more locally sourced cheese than the awardwinning organic produce from Bath Soft Cheese. They’re offering a Christmas gift box including their Wyfe of Bath harder cheese, creamy brie-like Bath Soft and the classic Bath Blue, a perfect way to ring the changes with a glass of port
OUT OF TOWN THATCHERS CIDER SHOP Station Rd, Sandford, Winscombe, BS25. Ffi: 01934 822862, www.thatcherscider.co.uk Stand outside this venerable converted farmhouse and you can see
the orchards that have supplied the Thatcher family with raw materials for more than 100 years. Inside, an imposing array of barrels and shelves of bottles testifies to the results. They’re a great local success story, and any of their award-winning single-variety ciders like Katy Rose would grace your Christmas table, while their gift baskets include cider, chutney, special glasses and bar runners. Most parties could benefit from a ‘bag in box’ of traditional cider, too. NESTOR PARK FARM SHOP Bath Rd, Atworth, Wilts, SN12. Ffi: 01225 700881, www.nestorparkfarmshop. com What started as a stall selling their own organic Black and Tan beef has grown into a full-on farm shop and deli, with locally grown fruit and veg and homemade products including award-winning salami and faggots, pies and terrines. Their in-house butchery will make you up a customised organic meat box, and they’re taking orders for locally reared free-range turkeys, geese, ducks and guinea fowl. ➻ FOLIO/DEC 2012 45
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